Lotte's Locket

by Virginia Sorensen, Fermin Rocker (Illustrator)

To eleven-year-old Lotte, the eighth by that name to have lived in the old Danish farmhouse, it was unthinkable that her beloved mother should plan to marry an American and plan to take Lotte to live in New York! How could they leave Lotte's wise and loving grandmother, the old house with its special "Lotte Room," the village so rich in history where her father was buried - all that was dearest to them? Through the months that followed the wedding, Lotte struggled with her unhapiness, determined - when the summer holiday began - to run away instead of sailing for New York, so that she might stay in Denmark.

Talented author Sorensen resolves Lotte's conflict in a deeply moving story, richly evocative of the past and vividly portraying the present.

253 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1964

About the author

Virginia Louise Sorensen (February 17, 1912-1991) was an American writer. Her role in Utah and Mormon literature places her within the "lost generation" of Mormon writers. She was awarded the 1957 Newbery Medal for her children's novel, Miracles on Maple Hill.

Sorensen was born in Provo, Utah in 1912, and it was her family's own stories that influenced her early novels of the American West.

Reviews

[Jane Irish Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I should have liked this better, but I found the heroine to be a little too much self-involved. In the story she does at least begin to think about others, and how her actions affect them. When the story begins, Lotte is an eleven-year-old Danish girl, the eighth Lotte in the family. She is very loyal to her homeland, but now her widowed mother is marrying an American, and they will be going there to live! How can she possibly leave Lottegaard?

[Charlotte]

I really didn't want Lotte to have to leave her grandparents, and friends, and lovely family farm in Denmark full of family history to go live a New York apartment, with a new baby on the way. The book never reaches that point, but her having to leave home looms over everything. Some hope that she won't be there full time is given by her new stepfather's seemingly vast wealth and transatlantic flight becoming normal, but still. On the plus side, it's a nice intro. to Danish culture and history, especially WW II history....

[Tirzah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Virginia Sorensen is well-known for her Newbery Winner Miracles on Maple Hill. I reread that recently and decided to pursue some of Sorensen’s other lesser-known works. .Lotte’s Locket holds the same charming writing as Miracles. Set in Denmark, Lotte struggles to accept the marriage between her mother and an American man. She also struggles to accept the fact that she will be joining them to live in America after her school year. Readers follow Lotte through her difficult journey to leave everything and mostly everyone she loves in her homeland. On her journey, she learns more about Denmark’s history, her own heritage, and how to understand that not all change is bad. This story was written in the 1960s and is not as fast-paced as today’s children are used to, but I still recommend it for youngsters and others who enjoy juvenile fiction. I enjoyed it and along the way, I learned quite a bit about Denmark.

[CLM · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lotte is a Danish girl whose father was a WWII flyer. He survived the war but died later, leaving Lotte and her mother. When Patrick, a war comrade from America, comes to Denmark on business, he falls in love with his old friend's widow and persuades her to marry him and return to America. Lotte is to follow when the school year is out, but as she is jealous of her new stepfather (whom she liked when he seemed temporary) and reluctant to leave her grandmother, friends, and a heritage where she is the 11th Lotte, the book is very melancholy. It is hard to imagine her living in a NYC apartment building with a new half-sibling. Illustrations are very evocative.